Pagliarani on Rome: "These condemnations compel us to love the Holy Church even more"

Context

We had followed, publication after publication, the escalation of the standoff between Rome and the Society of Saint Pius X: the threat from Cardinal Fernández, the countdown before July 1, the consecrations at Écône, the excommunication decree from Leo XIV. On July 3, 2026, the SSPX launched a theological counteroffensive.

The Facts

Bishop Davide Pagliarani, Superior General of the Society, made public a statement in Spanish that immediately circulated in all languages: « Estas condenas nos obligan a amar aún más a la Santa Iglesia y a atender sus necesidades con todas nuestras fuerzas. » These condemnations, he said, do not shake the SSPX but strengthen it in its mission. LifeSiteNews, for its part, headlined in "breaking news": the Society declares the excommunications "objectively unjust and invalid." Pagliarani added: "We belong to the Church because we share the same faith"—a formula that claims a Catholic continuity independent of canonical regularization.

Furthermore, CNA/EWTN published a pastoral explainer for the faithful: "As a Catholic, can you attend an SSPX Mass?"—a sign that the question is resurfacing with urgency in ordinary parishes.

Canonical Analysis

Pagliarani’s declaration raises a fundamental question of canon law. Can the validity of an excommunication pronounced by the Apostolic See be contested? Canon 1364 § 1 of the CIC 1983 provides for latae sententiae excommunication for schismatics. Yet the SSPX has always contested, since 1988, that the Écône consecrations constituted a schism in the proper sense—arguing that the Society acted in a state of canonical "necessity" (c. 1323 § 4). In 2009, Benedict XVI lifted the excommunications of the bishops consecrated in 1988, implicitly recognizing their validity. The canonical status in 2026 is structurally different: it is no longer a lifted excommunication but an act aggravating an unresolved situation since 1988. Pagliarani’s declaration thus follows the same logic: Rome’s acts can be "objectively unjust" without ceasing to be acts of Rome that one continues to love. This is an ecclesiology of the wounded interior, not of secession.

Stakes for the Church and the Faithful

The pastoral question raised by CNA is not trivial. Hundreds of thousands of Catholics regularly attend SSPX Masses. The canonical response is complex: they themselves are not excommunicated, but they participate in celebrations within a canonically irregular framework. Leo XIV, by striking the new bishops, did not alter the situation of the faithful who frequent the Society—but he hardened the signal sent to priests.

Critical Reading

Pagliarani’s declaration is skillful: it rejects the alternative between submission and declared secession. But it maintains a serious theological ambiguity. "Sharing the same faith" is not enough to define full Catholic communion: the CCC recalls that "full integration into the community of the Church" requires the bonds of the profession of faith, the sacraments, ecclesiastical governance, and communion (CCC 837). On this last point, the Society remains outside—even if it denies it.

To Reflect and Act

"If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone" (Mt 18:15). The evangelical logic of fraternal correction presupposes real dialogue. Pray that a theological—not merely canonical—space may open where Rome and the SSPX can together examine the conditions for reconciliation without capitulation.